讓美國人費解的英式英語

英式英語和美式英語一直被拿來做比較。很多英劇迷都很迷戀有氣質的英式英語，但同是英語一家親的美國人，卻對一些英式英語感到很費解。

It can be as insignificant as the slide from “oops” to “whoops”. It can be as blunt as the shift from “restroom” to “toilet”. It can be no more than the adaptation from “good job” to “well done.” But whatever precisely it is， the adjustment is momentous. A new nation was born in 1776， and a new language was born with it.

Having become an American， a British man returned to England a few years back after an absence of 31 years. He expected to speak British English. But he was wrong. Somewhere in the interim the pronunciation of the letter H had become “haitch” from “aitch”， with the result that spelling out his family name （surname） was painful. “You” had somehow morphed into the ghastly reflexive “yourself”， as in， “And for yourself？”

從英語到美語的轉變，有時是“哎喲”的說法從“oops”變成“whoops”一樣不起眼，有時是把“廁所”從“restroom”變成“toilet”一樣的天壤之別。它也可以像把“干得漂亮”的說法從“good job”變成“well done”一樣，只是改編一下。但無論具體是怎樣，這都是一個重大轉變。一個新的國家在1776年誕生之際，一門新的語言也隨之誕生了。

幾年前，已經成為美國人的一位英國人回到了闊別31年的英國。他打算說英國話來著。但他錯了。在他離開的31年間，字母H在某些地方的發音已經從“aitch”變成了“haitch”，致使他很難讀出自己的姓氏。“你（you）”不知怎的已經演變成了可怕的反身代詞“你自己（yourself）”，例如，“那你自己呢？（And for yourself？）”

Virgin Media and Sir Richard Bransons monumental ego had taken a stranglehold on the country and its lexicon， with the result that a cheesy， simpering， faux-friendly， off-key， faintly Essex hail-well-met affectation （Never just plain “Hello，” always “Well， hellooo there”） was near universal. He have found that it never stops grating. In the toilet of a Virgin train， an announcement in that voice asks you not to flush tampons， old phones—or your dreams. You get the picture.

People in England are nice. Theyre lovely， just lovely， another of those words thats everywhere in a different way. For example， “See you tomorrow， then.” “Lovely.”

His kids， New York raised， started questioning him from the moment they touched down. “Baggage REclaim？” they asked at Heathrow. “Are you serious？” “Well， um， um （a little British throat-clearing to get them used to the new scene）， yeah.” So， “Baggage Claim” had become “Baggage Reclaim”， on what grounds it was not clear.

There you had it， oops to whoops. And then， driving into London and passing a petrol （gas） station， the incredulity of his son， “They dont actually spell tires with a ‘y， do they？”

British idioms are equally impenetrable. The culture wars， of course， have come to Britain. Even Black Friday shopping mania has come to Britain， with or without Thanksgiving. Theres endless flux， but differences endure. You read things like， “White-van man does not eat braised endive.” White-van man would be the English guy who votes for the right-wing UK Independence Party and who hates all the immigrant-loving urban eggheads driving Volvos. Rough translation： Joe the plumber does not eat broccoli. Thats very rough. As you will have gathered， the ocean is immense. Globalization has its limits.

Cell is mobile here. Two weeks is a fortnight. Silverware is cutlery. And the flat that costs two million quid （three million bucks） with no lift is an overpriced London apartment with no elevator.

Dont exaggerate， you will tell me. In a way youd be right. London glides into New York more easily than into Birmingham. They get each other. But this is less than half the trans-Atlantic story. Language demands a different character of them on either side of the pond. Thats profound.

And for him， if theres one word on which the differences hinge， it would be “sure”. In England， it stands for prudence， as in， “Are you really sure？” In America， its the beautiful， give-it-a-whirl， up-for-anything embrace of the unknown.

“Will you take a road trip （drive） with me across the country， babe？”

“Sure.”

維珍媒體和理查德·布蘭森爵士的極端自負深深影響著這個國家和它的詞匯表。其結果是，給人以低級庸俗、裝瘋賣傻、虛情假意、荒腔走板之感，還帶著點埃塞克斯式自來熟的矯揉造作[絕不會平鋪直敘地說出“你好 （Hello）”，而是把“嘿，你好哦（Well， hellooo there）”掛在嘴上]，幾乎無所不在。他發現，這種讓人火大的矯揉造作永遠不會有所收斂。在維珍公司運營的火車上，衛生間里的提示語以同樣的腔調要求你別把衛生棉條、舊手機——或者你的夢——扔進馬桶沖走。你懂的。

英國人是友善的。他們很可愛（lovely），而“lovely”一詞同樣有著五花八門的用法。例如，“那么，明天見。”“好啊（Lovely）。”

他的孩子們以前都生活在紐約。從他們乘坐的飛機降落在英國國土上開始，他們就一直在責問他。“Baggage REclaim？”他們在希思羅機場問道，“你是認真的嗎？”“這個，嗯，嗯（以英國人的方式稍微清清嗓子，好幫他們適應新狀況），是的。”這么說，出于某些尚不清楚的原因，“行李領取處”（Baggage Claim）變成了“行李收回處”（Baggage Reclaim）了。

情況就是如此。Oops不也變成whoops了嘛。接著，在車子駛入倫敦、經過一個加油站時，他兒子疑惑地問道：“他們拼寫‘tire（輪胎）的時候不用‘y吧？（即tyre）”

英國的成語同樣令人費解。文化戰爭當然已經蔓延到英國。甚至是黑色星期五的購物狂潮也蔓延這里，無論他們過不過感恩節。文化源源不斷地涌入，但永遠存在差別。你會讀到，“瘋狂駕駛白貨車的男子不吃燉菊苣。”駕駛白貨車的男子指的是那些英國人：他們投票支持右翼的英國獨立黨，并且憎恨所有開沃爾沃的熱愛移民的城市蛋頭（egghead，美語俚語，對知識分子的蔑稱）。粗略翻譯過來就成了：水管工喬不吃西蘭花。這確實非常粗略。你可能也看出來了，簡直是差了十萬八千里。全球化也有無能為力的時候。

在這里，人們把“手機（cell）”叫作“移動電話（mobile）”。兩周叫作“十四天（fortnight）”。200萬英鎊一套（也就是300萬美元）、沒有“lift”的“flat”，其實就是一套定價過高的、沒有“電梯（elevator）”的“公寓（apartment）”。

你可能會說，別夸張了。從某種意義上講，你說的可能沒錯。倫敦與紐約的差距比它與伯明翰的差距要小。他們能理解對方。但這只是冰山一角。語言要求他們在大洋兩岸展示出不同的性格。這是一種深刻的區別。

而對他來說，如果有一個詞最能體現美語和英語的區別，那就是“sure”。在英國，它代表著謹慎，比如，“你真的確定嗎（Are you really sure）？”但在美國，它則代表著一個積極熱情、大膽嘗試、愿意擁抱未知的態度。

“你愿意和我駕車穿越美國嗎，親愛的？”

“好呀（Sure）。”